Excalidraw
Ghost
| Feature | Excalidraw | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $7/mo | Free / from $9/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.7 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, product-teams, educators, brainstorming-sessions | bloggers, publishers, newsletter-creators, indie-media |
| Founded | 2020 | 2013 |
| Freehand Drawing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Component Library | ✓ | ✗ |
| Export Options | ✓ | ✗ |
| End To End Encryption | ✓ | ✗ |
| Embeddable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shapes And Arrows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Memberships | ✗ | ✓ |
| Newsletter | ✗ | ✓ |
| Seo | ✗ | ✓ |
| Themes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Native Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Excalidraw Pros
- Beautiful hand-drawn sketch aesthetic
- Completely free and open source core
- Real-time collaboration with shared links
- Library of reusable components and templates
- Embeddable in other applications
✗ Excalidraw Cons
- Limited formatting compared to structured diagramming tools
- No presentation mode built-in
- File management basic without Excalidraw+
✓ Ghost Pros
- Fast and clean
- Built-in memberships
- Newsletter included
- Open source
✗ Ghost Cons
- Limited themes
- No page builder
- Requires technical knowledge
The Verdict
Excalidraw is built for developers and product teams, with a focus on freehand-drawing and real-time-collaboration. Ghost targets bloggers and publishers and leads with editor and memberships.
Pricing is close: Excalidraw starts at $7/mo versus $9/mo for Ghost — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Excalidraw offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Ghost takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Excalidraw has a slight overall edge — but if fast and clean matters most to you, Ghost may still be the right call.